The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of

higher learning Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

. Headquartered in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars and a network of research institutes. It was established in 1951, during the early period of the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

History

The Polish Academy of Sciences is a Polish state-sponsored institution of

, headquartered in

, that was established by the merger of earlier science societies, including the

Polish Academy of Learning The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences or Polish Academy of Learning (, PAU), headquartered in Kraków and founded in 1872, is one of two institutions in contemporary Poland having the nature of an academy of sciences (the other being the Po ...

(''Polska Akademia Umiejętności'', abbreviated ''PAU''), with its seat in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, and the Warsaw Society of Friends of Learning (Science), which had been founded in the late 18th century. The Polish Academy of Sciences functions as a learned society acting through an elected assembly of leading scholars and research institutions. The Academy has also, operating through its committees, become a major scientific advisory body. Another aspect of the Academy is its coordination and overseeing of numerous (several dozen)

research institutes A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural sc ...

. PAN institutes employ over 2,000 people and are funded by about a third of the Polish government's budget for science.Ustawa z dnia 30 kwietnia 2010 r. o Polskiej Akademii Nauk.

Leadership

The Polish Academy of Sciences is led by a President, elected by the assembly of Academy members for a four-year term, together with a number of Vice Presidents. The President for the 2019–2022 term was Jerzy Duszyński (his second term in the post), together with five Vice Presidents:

Stanisław Czuczwar Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, Kherson Oblast, a coastal village in Ukraine * Stanislaus County, ...

, Stanisław Filipowicz,

Paweł Rowiński Paweł Mariusz Rowiński (born 26 February 1965) is a Polish hydrogeologist, hydrodynamicist, geophysicist, full professor at the Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, a full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, vice-preside ...

, Roman Słowiński, and Romuald Zabielski. On 20 October 2022, General Assembly of the Polish Academy of Sciences elected Marek Konarzewski to become the new President of the Academy for the 2023–2026 term. On 8 December 2022, another session of General Assembly of the Academy elected four Vice Presidents at the recommendation of the President Elect; as such

Mirosława Ostrowska Mirosława Małgorzata Ostrowska (born 26 June 1969) is a professor at the Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, and Vice President of the Polish Academy of Sciences in the 2023–2026 term. Within the field of oceanology, her res ...

Natalia Sobczak Natalia Sobczak (born 21 April 1956) is a professor of materials engineering at the Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science, Polish Academy of Sciences, and Vice President of the Polish Academy of Sciences in the 2023–2026 term. She speci ...

, and

Dariusz Jemielniak Dariusz Jemielniak (born 17 March 1975) is a professor of management at Kozminski University, faculty associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, and vice-president of Polish Academy of Sciences. His inte ...

, and Aleksander Welfe were elected as Vice Presidents of the Academy for the 2023–2026 term. All the Presidents of the Polish Academy of Sciences to date, by term, are as follows: *1952–1956:

Jan Bohdan Dembowski Jan Bohdan Dembowski (; 26 December 1889 – 22 September 1963) was a Polish biologist and academic who was the first President of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Biography Dembowski was born in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire and studied in ...

*1957–1962:

Tadeusz Kotarbiński Tadeusz Marian Kotarbiński (; 31 March 1886 – 3 October 1981) was a Polish philosopher, logician and ethicist. A pupil of Kazimierz Twardowski, he was one of the most representative figures of the Lwów–Warsaw School, and a member of th ...

*1962–1971:

Janusz Groszkowski Janusz is a masculine Polish given name. It is also the shortened form of January and Januarius. People * Janusz Akermann (born 1957), Polish painter * Janusz Bardach, Polish gulag survivor and physician * Janusz Bielański, Roman Catholic pr ...

*1971–1977:

Włodzimierz Trzebiatowski Włodzimierz Trzebiatowski (February 25, 1906 in Grodzisk Wielkopolski – November 13, 1982) was a Polish chemist, physicist and mathematician. An institute in Wrocław, Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country ...

*1977–1980:

Witold Nowacki Prof Witold Nowacki HFRSE PPAS (1911–1986) was a Polish mathematician and expert on the mechanics of elasticity and thermoelasticity. He served as President of the Polish Academy of Sciences from 1978 to 1980 and was the first President of the S ...

*1980–1983:

Aleksander Gieysztor Aleksander Gieysztor (17 July 1916 – 9 February 1999) was a Polish medievalist historian. Life Aleksander Gieysztor was born to a Polish family in Moscow, Russia, where his father worked as a railwayman. In 1921, the family relocated to Poland ...

*1984–1990:

Jan Karol Kostrzewski Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...

*1990–1992:

*1993–1998: Leszek Kuźnicki *1999–2001: Mirosław Mossakowski *2002–2003:

Jerzy Kołodziejczak Jerzy is the Polish version of the masculine given name George. The most common nickname for Jerzy is Jurek (), which may also be used as an official first name. Occasionally the nickname Jerzyk may be used, which means " swift" in Polish. Peo ...

*2003–2006: Andrzej Legocki *2007–2014: Michał Kleiber *2015–2018: Jerzy Duszyński *2019–2022: Jerzy Duszyński *2023–2026: (president-elect) Marek Konarzewski

Institutes

The Polish Academy of Sciences has numerous institutes, including: * Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy *

Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology The Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology is a Polish scientific research organization and a part of Polish Academy of Sciences headquartered in Warsaw, Poland. Founded in 1918, it is named after Polish biochemist and medic Marceli Nencki. It ...

* Bohdan Dobrzański Institute of Agrophysics *

Museum and Institute of Zoology Muzeum i Instytut Zoologii PAN is a zoological museum in Warsaw, Poland. It was established in 1819. It is an institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences. It publishes the journal ''Acta Chiropterologica'', a scientific journal on bats. The muse ...

* Kielanowski Institute of Animal Physiology and Nutrition * Mammal Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences * Institute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences - established, 1954, became an independent institute in 1974; publishes the journal ''Pharmacological Reports''. * Institute of Psychology * Institute of Slavic Studies * Institute of High Pressure Physics * Institute of Hydro-Engineering * Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center * * * Polish Institute of Physical Chemistry * Centre of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences in Lodz * Department of Turbine Dynamics and Diagnostics of the Institute of Fluid-flow Machinery of the Polish Academy of Sciences * Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences *

Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences The Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences ( Polish: ''Instytut Matematyczny Polskiej Akademii Nauk'') is a research institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) headquartered in Warsaw at 8 Śniadeckich Street.

* * * Institute for the History of Science, Polish Academy of Sciences * Institute of Economics of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Notable members

* Bogdan Baranowski, chemist *

Franciszek Bujak Franciszek Bujak (16 August 1875, in Maszkienice near Brzesko - 21 March 1953, in Kraków) was a Polish academic and historian of economic, political and social history of Poland. Academic career Bujak served as professor of the Jagiellonian U ...

, historian * Carsten Carlberg, biochemist *

Tomasz Dietl Tomasz Dietl (born 1 October 1950) is a Polish physicist; professor and head of the Laboratory for Cryogenic and Spintronic Research at the Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences; and professor of the Institute of Theoretical Physics at ...

, physicist *

Aleksandra Dunin-Wąsowicz Aleksandra Dunin-Wąsowicz (10 June 1932 – 22 July 2015) was a Polish archaeologist at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. She has published studies, primarily in French, of the development of technology ...

, archaeologist * Zofia Hilczer-Kurnatowska, archaeologist *

Maria Janion Maria Janion (24 December 1926 – 23 August 2020) was a Polish scholar, literary theorist and critic, as well as a feminist. She was a professor at the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences, specialising in literary Ro ...

, scholar, critic and theoretician of literature *

Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska Zofia Emilia Kielan-Jaworowska (25 April 1925 – 13 March 2015) was a Polish paleobiologist. In the mid-1960s, she led a series of Polish-Mongolian paleontological expeditions to the Gobi Desert. She was the first woman to serve on the executi ...

, paleontologist * Franciszek Kokot, nephrologist *

Stanisław Konturek Stanisław Jan Konturek (8 October 1931 – 8 August 2019) was a Polish physiologist and gastroenterologist, a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Academy of Learning, and professor of Jagiellonian University Collegium Medicum. ...

, physician *

Leszek Kołakowski Leszek Kołakowski (; ; 23 October 1927 – 17 July 2009) was a Polish philosopher and historian of ideas. He is best known for his critical analysis of Marxism, Marxist thought, as in his three-volume history of Marxist philosophy ''Main Current ...

, philosopher *

Roman Kozłowski Roman Stanisław Jakub Kozłowski (1 February 1889 – 2 May 1977) was a Polish palaeontologist, best known for his work on graptolites. Kozłowski was born in Włocławek, north-west of Warsaw, on 1 February 1889. He studied at universities in Sw ...

, paleontologist *

Jacek Leociak Jacek Leociak (born 2 June 1957, in Warsaw) is a Polish literary scholar and historian as well as author. He is a professor of humanities and an employee of the Institute of Literary Research at the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Ce ...

, literary scholar * Wanda Leopold, author, translator, and literature critic *

Mieczysław Mąkosza Mieczysław Józef Mąkosza (born 16 November 1934) is a Polish chemist specializing in organic synthesis and investigation of organic mechanisms. Along with Jerzy Winiarski he is credited for the discovery of the aromatic vicarious nucleophilic ...

, chemist * Zenon Mariak, neurosurgeon, professor * Zenon Mróz, engineer * Karol Myśliwiec, archeologist *

, mathematician (president of the Academy 1978 to 1980) *

Czesław Olech Czesław Olech (22 May 1931 – 1 July 2015) was a Polish mathematician. He was a representative of the Kraków school of mathematics, especially the differential equations school of Tadeusz Ważewski. Education and career In 1954 he complete ...

, mathematician *

Bohdan Paczyński Bohdan Paczyński or Bohdan Paczynski (8 February 1940 – 19 April 2007) was a Polish astronomer notable for his theories and work in the fields of stellar evolution, accretion discs, and gamma ray bursts. He is the recipient of the Eddington ...

, astrophysicist * Krystian Pilarczyk, hydraulic engineer *

Włodzimierz Ptak Włodzimierz Wojciech Ptak (2 November 1928 – 28 May 2019) was a Polish Immunology, immunologist and microbiologist, professor of Medicine, medical sciences, member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Academy of Learning, professor ...

, immunologist * Marianna Sankiewicz-Budzyńska electronics engineer and academic * Andrzej Schinzel, mathematician *

Jan Strelau Jan Strelau (born 30 May 1931 in Gdańsk; died 4 August 2020 in Warsaw) was a Polish people, Polish psychologist best known for his studies on temperament. He was professor of psychology at Warsaw University from 1968 to 2001 and was since 2001 p ...

, psychologist * Zofia Sulgostowska, archaeologist *

Piotr Sztompka Piotr Sztompka (born 2 March 1944) is a Polish sociologist known for his work on the theory of social trust. He is professor of sociology at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland, and has also frequently served as visiting professor at ...

, sociologist * Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, anthropologist and religious studies scholar *

Andrzej Trautman Andrzej Mariusz Trautman (; born January 4, 1933) is a Polish mathematical physicist who has made contributions to classical gravitation in general and to general relativity in particular. He made contributions to gravitation as early as 1958. T ...

, physicist *

Andrzej Udalski Andrzej Jarosław Udalski (born 22 January 1957 in Łódź, Poland) is a Polish people, Polish astronomer and astrophysicist, and director of the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Warsaw. He is also head of the Department of Observa ...

, astrophysicist and astronomer * Jerzy Vetulani, pharmacologist and neuroscientist *

Jan Woleński Jan Hertrich-Woleński (also known as Jan Woleński; born 21 September 1940) is a Polish philosopher specializing in the history of the Lwów–Warsaw school of logic and in analytic philosophy. He has spent most of his academic career at the ...

, philosopher *

Aleksander Wolszczan Aleksander Wolszczan (born 29 April 1946) is a Polish astronomer. He is the co-discoverer of the first confirmed extrasolar planets and pulsar planets. He is a graduate of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń and works as a professor a ...

, astronomer * Bernard Zabłocki, microbiologist and immunologist * Stanisław Zagaja, pomologist, professor and director of Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture

Foreign members

Aage Bohr Aage Niels Bohr (; 19 June 1922 – 8 September 2009) was a Danish nuclear physicist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1975 with Ben Roy Mottelson and James Rainwater "for the discovery of the connection between collective motion and p ...

, physicist * Zbigniew Darzynkiewicz, cell biologist * Joseph H. Eberly, physicist *

Erol Gelenbe Sami Erol Gelenbe (born 22 August 1945, Istanbul) is a Turkish and French computer scientist, electronic engineer and applied mathematician, renowned for pioneering work in computer system and network performance. His academic career spans sever ...

, computer scientist and engineer *

Martin Hairer Sir Martin Hairer (born 14 November 1975) is an Austrian-British mathematician working in the field of stochastic analysis, in particular stochastic partial differential equations. He is Professor of Mathematics at EPFL (École Polytechnique F� ...

, mathematician * Jack K. Hale, mathematician * Stephen T. Holgate, immunopharmacologist (2001) *

Ernst Håkon Jahr Ernst Håkon Jahr (born 4 March 1948) is a Norwegian linguist with about 230 publications, including about 50 books. He is currently (2012) dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education at the University of Agder. He was born in Oslo, and too ...

, linguist * Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, Polish chemist working at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

Robert K. Merton Robert King Merton (born Meyer Robert Schkolnick; July 4, 1910 – February 23, 2003) was an American sociologist who is considered a founding father of modern sociology, and a major contributor to the subfield of criminology. He served as the ...

, sociologist *

Karl Alexander Müller Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl of Austria, last Austrian Emperor * Karl (footballer) (born 1993), Karl Cac ...

, physicist *

Roger Penrose Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, Philosophy of science, philosopher of science and Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics i ...

, mathematician *

Carlo Rubbia Carlo Rubbia (born 31 March 1934) is an Italian particle physicist and inventor who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1984 with Simon van der Meer for work leading to the discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN. Early life and educatio ...

, physicist * Peter M. Simons, philosopher * Boleslaw Szymanski, computer scientist *

Chen Ning Yang Yang Chen-Ning or Chen-Ning Yang (; born 1 October 1922), also known as C. N. Yang or by the English name Frank Yang, is a Chinese theoretical physicist who made significant contributions to statistical mechanics, integrable systems, gauge th ...

, physicist * George Zarnecki, art historian

Periodicals

*''

Acta Arithmetica ''Acta Arithmetica'' is a scientific journal of mathematics publishing papers on number theory. It was established in 1935 by Salomon Lubelski and Arnold Walfisz. The journal is published by the Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sc ...

'' *'' Acta Asiatica Varsoviensia'' *'' Acta Ornithologica'' *''

Acta Palaeontologica Polonica ''Acta Palaeontologica Polonica'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed open access scientific journal of paleontology and paleobiology. It was established by Roman Kozłowski in 1956. It is published by the Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academ ...

'' *'' Acta Physica Polonica'' *'' Annales Polonici Mathematici'' *''

Annales Zoologici ''Annales Zoologici'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of systematic zoology. Established in 1951, it is published by the Museum and Institute of Zoology of the Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy o ...

'' *'' Archaeologia Polona'' *''

Fundamenta Mathematicae ''Fundamenta Mathematicae'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of mathematics with a special focus on the foundations of mathematics, concentrating on set theory, mathematical logic, topology and its interactions with algebra, and dynamical sys ...

References

External links

PAN website
(click on British flag icon for English-language content) {{Authority control National academies of sciences National academies of arts and humanities 1952 establishments in Poland Research institutes established in 1952 Scientific organizations established in 1952 Members of the International Council for Science Members of the International Science Council Government agencies established in 1952

History

Leadership

Institutes

Notable members

Foreign members

Periodicals

See also

References

External links